The Harvey Family: Blake

Update on Eczema: In short, we haven't made any strides in improving it. We basically do spot treatments with Cortisone a couple times a week. We bathe Blake in just water 6 nights a week and use soap 1 night a week (which normally makes him break out worse). Since he's still being breastfed, changes in diet are hard to pinpoint what is causing his skin to react if that is indeed a cause. The breastmilk idea that we tried (topically) didn't work. His typical problem spots are behind his knees/thighs and in his elbow creases which are the normal spots, and the tops and heels of his feet. But he also has been having really dry shins which has broken out more lately and random spots all up and down his arms. We've been able to keep his abdomen under control for the most part by keeping him in onesies. Hopefully when we get him weaned it will be able to pinpoint if and which foods cause him to react. The weather is another factor, but it has been all over the map the past couple weeks so it's hard to know if that is a cause of his breakouts too. I know we need to be grateful that he doesn't have problems that are worse, but we feel like it's our job as parents to try and make Blake as comfortable as possible and it sure would be nice to solve this. Until then we'll keep trying things and hope to keep him as comfortable as we can.

Blake:

can stand up without pulling up on something. He's finally figured out how to balance his weight enough to get into the squat position and stand up. All the squats he's been doing have really been tiring him out though.
has been sleeping back in the crib again. For a while he was sleeping with us and it was nice to have him close so we didn't have to worry about him, but it was time to get our evenings back to ourselves. The first couple nights were rough, then a couple good ones, then bad again. He's gotten decent at going to bed the first time, but we have a lot of wake ups where he has to be settled down and put back to sleep. Hopefully he'll start sleeping though the night consistently sometime soon. One thing he likes to do is get up as soon as I lie him down and poop so I'll have to come change his diaper. Smart boy.
has started the transition from a bottle to a sippy cup. So far it hasn't worked out well at all. We tried a no-spill sippy cup but it's too difficult for him to keep his mouth around it and bite it to get the water out. I tried it too, and it's quite difficult. So then we moved onto one with a straw, again the no-spill kind, and he won't close his lips around it like a straw and he wants to tip it back. Many parents say it takes a few tries to find the right one so we'll keep trying them I guess. I think we might have to start with one that isn't so spill-proof until he gets the hang of straws.
has been trying more foods since he is so much hungrier these days. Lately he loves chicken breasts and blueberries. He'll eat a quarter of a chicken breast with his lunch in addition to a handful of blueberries, some toast, and some Cheerios.
used to be scared of all vacuums. Now I use the hand vacuum everyday to clean up his mess on the floor from lunch. He's not only gotten used to it, now he gets excited when its time to clean up the mess. He even wants to put his hands on it and help me vacuum now. Crazy boy.
is starting to like loud noises more. First it was the vacuum and now it's pots and pans. He used to just open and close all cabinets, but then he decided that wasn't enough fun and he started taking out all the pots and pans and carrying them around and dropping them on the floor. The sound was so loud it would make MY ears hurt. I can't imagine how it didn't scare him. After that we decided it was time to add more baby-proofing to the kitchen and those 2 cabinets got sealed up.
is getting too fast at walking to take to the library. As soon as I let him go, he'll run to the nearest bookshelf and try and pull all the books off. For that reason we might have to start finding a new activity for Wednesday mornings.
went to Gymboree for a trial visit. They have classes on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings for his age group and it is a much better outlet for his energy than the library. It was a bit overwhelming for him at first but once he got the hang of it he really enjoyed all the activities and songs. We did climbing, slides, dropping shakers in holes, played with noise makers on strings, played with bubbles, and sang songs. He absolutely loved it! We're going to try it one more time and if things go well again we'll probably get a membership at least for a few months.
has been super thirsty lately. I only started keeping a water bottle for him a few weeks ago and now he drinks it all the time. His face just lights up and he gets this huge grin when I offer it to him. I think he's also proud of himself that he can hold it and drink it while walking around.
started taking walks outside. The first time was so funny because he thought he had gotten away with being somewhere he shouldn't be and he just had the crazy excited giggle going on and he tried to run away from me. We've been working on staying away from the street and not eating every little thing he picks up.
knows where his head, nose, mouth, and ears are. He's much better at the last 3 by pointing them out on someone else though.
has lost interest in his letters all of a sudden. I guess now that he's walking he doesn't need comfort objects? Chris pointed it out to me a couple days ago and sure enough he doesn't even pick them up anymore. It's crazy how quickly kids grow and change their preferences.